Gyokeres finally ended a seven-game goal drought when he netted a scrappy double against Atletico Madrid and offers the Gunners plenty.

Close Arsenal’s goal-of-the-season competition now. They have a winner. If, that is, the prize is for the scruffiest goal.

Gunners of a certain vintage will recall Dennis Bergkamp scoring one of the most artistic, aesthetically-pleasing hat-tricks of all, against Leicester in 1997. A younger generation could enjoy Viktor Gyokeres’ distinctly uglier brace against Atletico Madrid, but for rather different reasons.

The cliche is that forwards on goal droughts need one to go in off their backside. Gyokeres saw one go in off David Hancko’s heel, the other via his own thigh. After 624 minutes without a goal, he had two in three, from a combined total of about six yards.

But they all count and, more than most, Gyokeres can be judged on numbers. Without them, without his 97 goals in 102 games for Sporting CP, he might not be leading the line for Arsenal now.

Five in 12 for his new club sounds rather less spectacular, but significantly better than three in 11 or none in the last seven as it was before kick-off. The Swede’s longest barren spell since his days as a Coventry player was in itself a reminder that, two-and-a-half years ago, he was a Coventry player.

A Championship player at 24, a Champions League striker at 27, perhaps a Premier League winner just before his 28th birthday, Gyokeres’ rise has come later than most.

The inconvenient observation may be that Gyokeres looked a class below Atletico’s Julian Alvarez for much of Tuesday’s 4-0 win. The reaction of his manager and his teammates when he scored was instructive, though. “He makes us a much better team,” insisted Mikel Arteta. “I think we've become much more unpredictable. He's so physical. The way he presses the ball, holds the ball, that's phenomenal.”

A day earlier, Mikel Merino had cited an “unbelievable” work rate, too. As an individual, he is not unpredictable but, by dragging defences deeper, Gyokeres can open up space for others. Eberechi Eze could be a particular beneficiary. But there are times when he seems a blunt instrument. The Swede is a willing runner but not particularly quick: not by Premier League standards, anyway, and not until he is really into his stride. Part of his job feels simply distracting defenders.

That job has proved more of a full-time post than Arteta may have anticipated. Outsiders were convinced Arsenal required a specialist centre-forward. The manager may have only thought they required one for certain games. Had Kai Havertz stayed fit, there is a chance he would have begun many of the more demanding tests: Liverpool, City, Newcastle, perhaps Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid too.

A gradual integration for Gyokeres could have made sense. There is increasing evidence that success at Sporting, whether for Gyokeres, Matheus Nunes, Ruben Amorim or Hugo Viana, was imperfect preparation for the Premier League. There is also a case that the forward with the best numbers for his previous club is actually the most limited of those purchased in the Premier League summer spending spree and, at 27, one who may have the least resale value.

Hugo Ekitike looks far more gifted, Nick Woltemade unique, Joao Pedro a player of vast potential. Benjamin Sesko, the other forward Arsenal pursued for a year, is at least younger. Alexander Isak cost more than twice as much.

But, when the final whistle blew on Tuesday, none had more than Gyokeres’ five goals. And, come the end of the season, if none of the others have outscored him, Arsenal could enjoy the sense it is not how, but how many.